Email marketing is a great, cost efficient, way to stay in touch with former customers and potential leads that have opted in to your email distribution list.  There are many companies that offer this service to businesses and marketers to utilize on behalf of clients.  Most marketers are familiar with the top email marketing software companies like MailChimp, Constant Contact, Exact Target and Vertical Response.  However, when consulting with small companies, it is eye opening to discover that many are using archaic forms of email distribution.  Small companies are not alone, even experienced marketers commit faux pas that can have a lasting negative impact.

When it comes to email marketing, follow these 11 tips for getting it right:

1.  Cease and desist from using archaic technology. Research and use the email marketing software right for your company.  By using email marketing software, you can customize and brand your email, send targeted email, and receive reporting on your email campaign performance.

2. Brand your email marketing. Make sure the recipient knows the email is from your company.  If the recipient doesn’t know the email is from you, a company they know and trust, the likelihood that your email goes into the trash bin significantly increases.

3. Grow your email distribution list organically. Make sure the individuals on your list know they are on your list.  This is permission marketing at its best.  Simply meeting someone and exchanging business cards is the “green light” to add them to your email distribution list.  Receiving a list from a friend who loves your products and services and thinks all the people in his/her address book will love them too is not the “green light” to add them to your email distribution list.  Obtaining an email when someone registers and attends one of your events is not the “green light” to add them to your email distribution list.  If you don’t ask permission, it is SPAM.

4. Send targeted messages. Targeting enables your business to send the messages you want, when you want, to the people you want to receive them.  Why is this important?  Say you have a list of 5000 emails from people who have opted into your email distribution list and you have a birthday program.  Targeting enables you to send birthday emails only to the people celebrating May birthdays, but send a different message to the rest of your list.

5. Utilize reporting features to make better marketing decisions. Do you know if you get more readers when email campaigns are distributed on Fridays instead of Mondays?  Do you have a higher click thru rate (CTR) for the first article or link than you do for the third article or link?  Are the recipients of your newsletter converting to active customers? You will never know if you don’t review and analyze campaign reporting.

6. Don’t be the 1970′s used car salesman! Treat readers with respect.  Provide them with valuable content not just ads.  If you want someone to take time out of their day to read what you have sent them, make it worthwhile.  It may be beneficial to ask your readers from time-to-time what type of content they are interested in reading.

7. Close the loop. If you don’t have a customer relationship management system (CRM) get one and use it.  CRM is strategy for managing a company’s interactions with customers, clients and sales prospects. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes—principally sales activities, but also those for marketing, customer service, and technical support.  Make sure your email marketing system integrates with your CRM.  This will increase targeting success and efficiency.

8. Don’t miss valuable sales opportunities. Use your email marketing campaign to push readers back to your website to obtain more information.  Provide contact information in each mailing so readers can contact you immediately if necessary to purchase your products or services.

9. Get Social! Your email marketing should never stop with the intended audience.  Give recipients the tools to share your email via social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Digg as well as the option to email to a friend.

10. Include Video. Whether you prefer YouTube, Vimeo, or Ustream, it doesn’t matter.  Add an element of technology to your email marketing by incorporating video.  73% of marketers believe that integrating video with email marketing increases click thru rates.*  (*2010 Video Email Marketing Survey and Industry Trends Report.)

11. Test, Test, Test. Test your email campaign before sending.  Sound like a no brainer? It’s not. Many marketers and business owners send a test email to their personal email account and think they are done.  That is just the beginning. Email campaigns have the potential to look different when viewed in AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo or Gmail.  Email campaigns also have the potential to look different when viewed via computer versus smartphone.  You won’t know until you test.  What looks fantastic in Outlook may be a horrible experience for the viewer using Thunderbird!

If you are looking for a company that can provide you with a great email marketing solution, manage and design your campaigns or somewhere in-between, contact Project Socialize to schedule a consultation today.